The Ghost of Amestris
by MangaFreak15
Summary: Sequel to "Memories We Share". Three years after Ed's death, Roy and Al receive news of a mysterious ghost sighting in Central...


**Sequel to "The Memories We Share".**

**Summary: Three years after the death of Edward Elric, Roy and Alphonse receive news of a mysterious ghost-sighting in Central . . .**

**Warning: Alternate ending to the anime.**

**Note: The Ephons moved to Resembool after Ed's death.**

**A/N: Although Roy's rank is now Brigadier General, his subordinates will refer to him as "General" because it is shorter to say (and sounds better too).**

* * *

**The Ghost of Amestris**

* * *

_Boom!_

Roy Mustang was startled out of his nap in his office when he heard the familiar sound of an alchemic transmutation. "Alphonse . . ." he groaned, his one good eye fixing itself upon the sullen pre-teen.

The small child had grown a good several inches since his father's death. The dark-blonde hair and bronze eyes fitted on his face in such a way that anyone who had known Edward Elric often commented on how much he looked like his brother – well, now it was _father._ Alphonse blatantly refused to refer to Edward as his brother.

"Ed is my dad," he would always say, and the pain behind his words made everyone ashamed of trying to tell him that Edward was his older brother, not his father.

Now at the age of twelve, Alphonse's pure alchemic talent was used only to help people restore things or to drive away bad people. Never to kill. Having grown up the first nine years of his life being taught that alchemy was used to help people, not destroy them, Alphonse stubbornly clung to the belief that killing was absurd.

He remembered that Edward would tell him, "The first kill you make will change you forever. When you kill, you become a murderer."

When Alphonse had first spoke those words to the military officers in his defense, no one had argued; for it was all too true.

Alphonse examined his handiwork, completely ignoring the disgruntled colonel. Next to the door of the office was another door. Alphonse opened it.

Satisfied with his work, he drew another transmutation circle and transmuted the door back into its original white wall. He turned to the colonel with a faint grin. "I'm getting better at this, aren't I?" Alphonse asked softly. "Would dad be proud of me now?"

Roy stiffened when Alphonse mentioned Edward. He didn't know what truly went through the young Elric's mind, but Alphonse was certainly more soft-spoken and logical than Edward had been. A faint smile tugged at the colonel's lips. Edward had raised him well . . . even if the calm reasoning was part of the original Alphonse's personality.

"Yes, Alphonse. He would be proud of you."

A loud knock was heard. Roy immediately snapped into an official-looking pose behind his desk. "Enter."

Warrant officer Kain Fuery rushed in. "Brigadier General Mustang, sir," he said, not noticing Alphonse nearby, "you have an urgent report!"

Roy accepted the paper handed to him and scanned the contents. His eyes narrowed.

"Is this a joke, Fuery?" he asked.

"I don't know, sir," Fuery answered. "Lieutenant Havoc told me to give it to you and not to read it."

"Tell Havoc to come to my office immediately."

"Sir!"

Fuery saluted the superior officer before running back out. Roy flopped back in his chair, head tilted back in dismay. "Alphonse," he said, catching the pre-teen's attention.

"Yes, General?"

"It appears we have a problem," Roy said, picking up the piece of paper from his desk, folding it, and tossing it to Alphonse.

Al unfolded it and read it. After a small pause, he looked back up at the expectant general, "Brigadier General Mustang, what is this? A _ghost?_ Ghosts don't exist."

Roy sighed. "I know, Alphonse. But this is a report, therefore I need someone to check it out with me. You aren't part of the military, but I would like you to accompany me while we search for this ghost," he said.

Alphonse jumped up. "Ghosts don't exist!" he insisted. "They . . . they can't!"

"We don't know for sure until we look into it," Roy replied. "I want to do this as much as you do, but a report is a report."

At that moment Havoc entered, an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. "You wanted to see me, General?" he asked.

"Yes. Tell me everything you know about the sightings of this . . . _ghost_."

Havoc crossed his arms and took the cigarette out of his mouth. "Well," he began, "I don't really know much, but we received a phone call from the Ephons a while ago. Mrs. Ephon said that she was visiting the chief's grave a week ago when she saw someone there already. But get this, the guy was transparent and looked like the chief. When she got to the grave, the ghost had already vanished. And every other day after that, she's been seeing the ghost in various places around Resembool. Then we get a call from one of the military officers patrolling East City about a strange ghost sighted near the building where we used to work. Someone also told us that he's been spotted around your house."

When Havoc finished, Alphonse was sickeningly pale. "You mean," he whispered, "the ghost . . . is my _dad?"_

Havoc shrugged. Roy threaded his fingers under his chin thoughtfully. "If what you said is true, Havoc, there is a chance that the ghost could be the Fullmetal Alchemist," he said slowly. He stood up. "Alphonse and I will look into it tonight. You are dismissed, Lieutenant."

* * *

Alphonse and Roy were strolling around Central, looking into places, asking bystanders . . . but so far no clues had turned up. It was nearly enough to drive Alphonse crazy.

"I told you ghosts didn't exist," he muttered as they started back to the Brigadier General's house.

Alphonse was proved wrong just as they rounded the corner of the street that led to the General's house.

Standing under the street lamp was a vague, transparent image. Roy and Alphonse paused to examine the figure.

Ghostly pale blonde hair tied back into ponytail, with two separate fringes hanging down in front of the figure's ears. A single cowlick antennae rose from the fringe peak. The figure was wearing a plain black vest and a white button-up shirt, complete with a set of matching black pants and shoes. The ghostly image turned . . .

Alphonse gasped as two familiar, but paler golden eyes met with his. "D-d-dad?" he stuttered.

The ghost watched them, surprise lighting its features. It glided towards them with glee, but stopped when Roy held his hand out in front of him, his gloves on and fingers ready to spark.

That face definitely belonged to Edward Elric, but he was dead. How could his ghost be here?

"Colonel . . ." Al trembled when the ghost spoke.

Roy wanted to deny it. That this wasn't real. That he wasn't seeing his ex-subordinate's spirit floating in front of him. That there was no way Edward Elric's ghost could be real and talking to him. "Actually it's . . . it's Brigadier General now."

Ed's transparent head peered at him curiously, "Brigadier General? Congratulations."

Roy swallowed the lump in his throat. "Thanks."

"Alphonse," the ghost whispered, moving forward and attempting to touch the petrified Alphonse. However, the ghostly hand went right through the boy.

Roy and Al both watched as a myriad of emotions crossed the ghost's face. It withdrew its hand and faded into the surrounding darkness, sadness most prominent upon its face.

After the ghost vanished, Al dropped to the ground and softly began to cry. "Dad," he sobbed. _"Dad._ Come back! I need you . . ."

_Alphonse . . . my Alphonse . . ._ seemed to be just a sound on the wind.

* * *

The following morning Roy appeared in his office without Alphonse Elric. His unit was surprised, especially since Roy, as Alphonse's guardian for the past three years in Ed's place, was nearly inseparable from the boy.

"Where's Alphonse?" Hawkeye asked as she walked into Roy's office.

Roy looked up from his paperwork, his lack of sleep the previous night shown by the faint circles under his eye. "Cried for a long time last night," he grumbled. "I don't blame him."

"Did you encounter the ghost, General?" Havoc queried.

The way Roy stiffened told his subordinates everything. "The ghost was Edward Elric, wasn't it?" Hawkeye said quietly.

Breda and Havoc both choked. "Seriously?" Havoc exclaimed, the cigarette falling from his mouth. "You mean the boss was really floating around scaring people?"

"No," Roy replied. "He was . . . just a mirage."

"That doesn't explain why Alphonse was crying and why you have circles under your eyes – I mean, your eye," Fuery pointed out.

Roy sighed irritably and felt like banging his head on the table. "Fine. The ghost _was_ Fullmetal," he snapped. "Happy?"

"What did he do, General?" Breda asked.

"He was near my house. When he saw us, he tried to touch Alphonse and couldn't, then faded and we didn't see him again. Alphonse cried for almost half the night and I couldn't sleep afterwards."

Havoc sat back in his chair. "I wonder why he came around as a ghost though," he said. "It's unheard of for the spirit of a dead person to come back and wander around."

"Lieutenant Colonel – I mean Brigadier General Hughes didn't, so . . ." Fuery began, trailing off.

"Maybe he's got unfinished business?" Falman suggested.

"Everyone who dies before they expect to has unfinished business," Roy growled.

"You should ask him the next time you see him, sir," Hawkeye spoke up.

Roy covered his face with his hands and groaned. "Talking to the ghost of my ex-subordinate doesn't seem very appealing to me," he said.

Breda, Havoc and Falman shivered. "I can see why that would be creepy," said Breda.

Suddenly the door opened and Alphonse walked in, smiling painfully. Everyone noticed the redness around his eyes, but kept quiet as the young twelve-year old approached the colonel.

Roy blinked once Alphonse stopped in front of his desk. "What is it?" he asked.

The boy glanced down, shuffling his feet nervously. "I saw him again," he whispered. "I saw my dad again."

"Was it a dream or a nightmare?"

"Neither," Alphonse responded, looking up. "His ghost visited me again after you left . . . he appeared in my room and talked to me."

Roy almost shot up in his seat. "What did he talk to you about?" he said.

"He told me that he didn't like to see me cry, so I stopped. He said that no matter where I was, he would watch over me and help me."

Breda gulped and wildly looked around the room. "He isn't here right now, is he?" the lieutenant quavered.

Alphonse suppressed an amused grin. "Yes he is. He's standing right behind General Mustang."

Roy whirled around in his seat as his subordinates' attention snapped to the window. A ghostly image flickered into existence in front of Roy, floating in mid-air. Then a few things happened.

Breda and Fuery screamed like little girls.

Havoc was petrified, his next cigarette falling to the floor untouched.

Hawkeye aimed a gun at the ghost.

Falman ducked behind the desk and peered over the edge.

Roy stared.

Alphonse laughed and ran over to the ghost.

"Dad, how long will you be here?" he inquired innocently. Inside he was fervently wishing that he could touch Edward again, to feel the warmth of his strong body when he was hugged.

The occupants of the office (excluding Roy, Alphonse and Hawkeye) nearly fainted in shock when the spirit spoke, "I don't know . . . I could stay here for a long time if I wanted to, but I'd like to move around and visit familiar places."

"Can we go back and visit Meyenheir?"

Edward looked thoughtful. "It'll take a while to get there, Al," he said. "I'm . . . a ghost, so I could easily get there within twenty hours, but for you, it'll take almost two days."

Alphonse looked saddened.

Havoc recovered from his shock and greeted the ghost as cheerfully as he could manage, "Hey there, chief! Mind explaining to us how you're still around after you died?"

Edward blinked. "Truthfully, I don't know what's going on myself," he admitted. "One minute I'm saying goodbye to Alphonse, the next minute I find myself waking up in mid-air, floating above my grave, and discovering that three years have passed since I died."

Breda and Fuery scooted toward the door, still frightened by the ghost of Edward Elric.

"Hey, Dad," Alphonse spoke up. "Normal people can't see you right?"

"Well, ever since I woke up, I've been practicing on what I can and cannot do in this form," Edward replied. "So far, the only way for people not to see me is if I camouflage into the background. Otherwise anyone could see me."

The officers nodded. That certainly made sense. Breda asked tensely, "Can you, y'know, float through walls and stuff like that?"

The ghost stared at him, a pale eyebrow rising. "How else do you think I got into this room?"

"Floating in through the door after Alphonse came in," Hawkeye replied, calm as ever.

Edward grinned sheepishly. "Oh, right. I totally forgot about that possibility," he laughed. "Well, I didn't go through the door, I came in through the wall and went behind the colonel. I only let Alphonse see me then."

Roy looked at him suspiciously.

"You said others can't see you when you camouflage, so as was it possible for Alphonse to see you when we couldn't?"

Edward only smiled more. "Alphonse is my . . . _son_," the ghost explained. "Therefore, I have a special connection to him. See, Alphonse can see me no matter what, unless I temporarily severe the bond that allows him to see me, like I did last night when I saw the Col – Brigadier General."

"That makes sense," Falman mused. "So . . . can you touch physical objects and go through people?"

"Well, I can go through people, but they won't feel anything," Edward said. "Watch."

With surprising speed, the ghost dove straight through Alphonse's stomach. The boy just turned around to look admiringly at his father, no shivering or anything of the sort.

"See?"

Roy clasped his hands underneath his chin again. "Well then, Fullmetal –" Edward coughed at this and gave the General a small glare "– I mean, Edward, what are you going to do?"

Edward sighed. "I obviously can't show myself to the public, and I'm pretty sure that Al would look rather silly talking to me in public, so I can't say I know for sure," he answered. "We could go back to Meyenheir . . . greet some old friends, and the like."

Alphonse itched to reach out and tug on his father's pant leg, although he knew that he couldn't. "What about Winry, dad?" he asked. "We should visit her too."

"Winry, huh?" Edward crossed his arms and laughed. "The one time she can't hurt me with one of those damn wrenches . . ."

"Dad, don't swear!" Alphonse scolded.

Everyone in the office laughed as Edward gave Alphonse an indignant look. "I'm hurt, Al," he mock-pouted.

Al just gave Ed an innocent grin.

* * *

_Ring. Ring. Ring. Riiing._

"Adrian, could you please get the phone?"

The tall man stood up from his workbench and walked over to the phone. "Hello, this is the Ephon Automail Shop. May I ask who is speaking?" he answered gruffly.

"_Good afternoon, Mr. Ephon. This is Roy Mustang from the military. May I have a word with your wife?"_

"Alright. Just a sec."

He poked his head into the workroom where Winry was busy adjusting a young teenager's leg. "Winry! Military man's on the line for you," he said.

Winry glanced up in surprise. "Can he wait until I'm finished with Max's adjustments?" she asked.

Adrian spoke back into the phone, "My wife is busy with her work. May I take a message, Mr. Mustang?"

There was a brief pause. _"Very well. Tell her that Alphonse and a familiar face will be coming to Resembool tomorrow."_

"Will do. Good day, Mr. Mustang."

Adrian hung up. He poked his head into the room and said, "Mustang from the military had a message for you. He said, 'Alphonse and a familiar face will be coming to Resembool tomorrow'."

Winry frowned slightly while she screwed a few bolts into the automail leg. "A familiar face?" she inquired, patting Max's knee, indicating she was finished. "Surely Mustang wouldn't come all the way out here just to escort Al," she said, standing up.

"It could be someone else."

"It probably is. We'll find out tomorrow," Winry said, waving goodbye to the teenager as he left.

_Ed . . . I wish you were here._

* * *

The day after seemed to come too quickly for Edward and Alphonse. Al sat on the train, looking wistfully out the window and wishing Ed was real so he could talk to him without looking mentally unstable. He pressed his cheek against the cool glass of the window and stared at the window a little more. Sighing, he withdrew from the window and fell into a fitful slumber, filled with dreams of happy days.

Edward sat – well, floated on the seat across from Alphonse. He wished more than ever that he was still alive, but the past can't be changed. His pale-gold eyes wandered over Alphonse's maturing body.

_At least the General was useful for something and didn't let him go to waste,_ Ed thought. _Looks like Al got the tall genes . . ._ He mentally grumbled at that part.

He settled himself in the seat, making sure he didn't accidentally fall through the seat. It was going to be a long four hours until they reached Resembool.

* * *

Al stretched his arms above his head, grateful that they were finally off the train. Because Resembool was way out in the country, there were less people to see him talking to thin air where Ed was. He looked upwards at his dad, only to see Ed staring off in the distance.

"Let's go, Dad," Al said, catching where Ed was gazing towards. He wished he could take his father's hand, to feel the familiar grooves of flesh and catch the warmth, but now there was none.

They walked (well, Al walked and Ed floated) towards the Ephon house.

A fateful (and shocking) reunion was to be made.

* * *

Now that they were actually in front of the house, Edward grew slightly nervous about seeing his old friend again, when he had not seen her at all for the last twelve years. Somewhere in the midst of his anxiety, he still kept hold of his appearance so that no one but Alphonse could see him.

Alphonse knocked on the wooden door. A muffled shout was heard inside, followed by the sound of footsteps drawing closer. The door was soon opened by a tall young man, who smiled at Alphonse.

"Al? Is that you?" a woman's voice called out as the pre-teen stepped inside.

"Hi, Winry," Al greeted the woman as she came out of her work room, holding a wrench in her hand.

She seemed to look around in confusion, "Al? Shouldn't there be someone with you?"

Al blinked. "Ah. Did General Mustang tell you that?" he asked. "Well . . . um, it's difficult to explain." A faint flush colored his cheeks light pink. "Please don't faint, Winry."

Winry said quizzically, "Why would I faint? I should know the person, right?"

"Well . . ." Al turned to the side, where he knew Ed was, "Dad, you can . . . um, show yourself now."

Winry froze as the pale image of Edward Elric flickered into existence before her eyes. The heavy wrench slipped from numb fingers, crashing to the floor with a loud _bang!_

"E . . . Ed . . . _Edward?"_ she stammered, staring into the familiar pale-gold irises.

"Hi, Winry," he said weakly, feebly waving a semi-transparent arm at her.

She slowly shuffled closer, her blue eyes wide in her face. She was struck speechless.

"Winry?" Alphonse voiced cautiously, waving a hand in front of her face.

As if struck by an old reflex, Winry unconsciously picked up the wrench on the floor and threw it at Ed's ghost. "You idiot!" she yelled. "How could you get yourself killed? Why did you have to run away and not tell anyone? No, you're dead . . . you're dead, you're dead, _you're dead!_ You can't be real. You can't . . . you can't, you can't, you can't!" It completely slipped her mind about how her wrench went _through_ Ed, not bouncing off a solid body part.

Adrian ran into the room after hearing his wife's frantic, desperate shouts. When he saw the ghost, he nearly tossed his own tools at him too. Instead, he ran over to Winry and pulled her into a comfort hug. She clenched her hands, fisting the familiar fabric . . . and broke down.

"I'm sorry, Winry," Ed whispered, floating over to the couple. "I'm –"

"Stay away from her," Adrian hissed in a low voice, cold brown eyes fixing themselves upon the ghost.

"Like hell I will," Ed snapped, moving closer. "This is between me and her alone."

"Stay away from my wife if you know what's good for you, ghost," Adrian snarled.

Ed seemed to choke. "Winry . . . you're married?" he turned pale, incredulous eyes on the quietly sobbing woman. "Do you – you know – have any kids yet?"

Winry dried her eyes on Adrian's shirt sleeve, "No, not yet. Adrian, please let me go. He isn't going to harm me."

"But he made you cry!"

"I cried from shock," Winry said, pulling away. "Let me properly introduce you two. Adrian –" she gestured to the waiting ghost, "– this is Edward Elric, my childhood friend that I tried to find twelve years ago. Ed, meet my husband Adrian Ephon."

Adrian smiled sheepishly, "Ah. I see. You're this Edward Elric I've heard so much about."

Edward grinned. "Well, I'd shake your hand if I could. You, sir, are very brave, to be able to marry Winry and stay alive."

"Ed!"

Ed cringed.

Fortunately there was no wrench flying through the air this time. Al just laughed at the entire situation. Ed threw a disgruntled glance at him.

"I don't see why you're laughing," he muttered.

Winry lightly clearly her throat as she tugged one of the nearby chairs over to the area. "So Ed, how exactly did you end up like this?" she asked, waving her arm at him to emphasize her point.

Edward struck a thoughtful pose in mid-air, crossing his legs. "To tell the truth, I don't know what happened," he said. "When I died, I just thought that it was the end and I hoped that Alphonse would be okay. I didn't know anything after that until I opened my eyes and discovered that I was floating on top of a grave, which I discovered was my own. And I realized I was ghost too. It's a strange feeling."

"I thought I saw you," Winry said, leaning forward a little to take a good, hard glance at her childhood friend's ghostly face.

"Did you? I must've been too deep in thought to realize you were there," Edward replied, shrugging.

Adrian spoke up, "So, Edward, I've heard about you. Is there anything you can tell us about why you decided not to return to Resembool?"

Edward seemed to flinch. He looked at Winry. "Winry," he called to her softly, "please don't be mad at me."

"Why would I –" Winry began, but she abruptly snapped her mouth shut as though a thought struck her.

"Down in the church of the underground city, I . . . I died," Edward whispered. "Al transmuted my soul and connected it back to my body, but he sacrificed himself to do it. I couldn't stand it – he was gone and it was my entire fault. So I tried to get his body back, but in exchange – in exchange, I would be gone." Winry gasped. Alphonse looked at his father in shock. What was Edward talking about?

"Somehow things didn't turn out the way I expected. The Gate of Truth stated that it was irritated with me, and took away my ability to age past twenty years. And Alphonse – he was turned into a baby. That's why he looks as he does now, and that's why I allowed him to call me 'Father'. I couldn't return to the military because I just performed a successful human transmutation, and Winry, you should know that's illegal enough to land me in jail or have me executed." Winry nodded. Ed sighed, and continued, "So I ran away. I went to a town called Meyenheir, where I shared a house with a woman named Eri. She was very kind to me; she helped me raise Alphonse for a few years, before she . . . before she died – of an illness." Here, Winry noticed that Edward wavered a little as he spoke of Eri. Despite being married to Adrian, she still felt a small pang of envy when she assumed that Edward could have potentially been in love with Eri. She squashed the selfish thought and steeled herself firmly as she waited for Ed to finish his explanation.

"Al was four. I was devastated; I didn't know anything about child-rearing and I felt hopeless and lost without her – until I found a book about raising children stashed in her room. It helped me a lot. I learned how to cook too." Winry stifled a small chuckle at the thought of _Ed_ actually _cooking_ for once, instead of using his thrice-damned alchemy.

"Everything was great. My _life_ was great," Edward said softly. "But after Al turned nine, someone came to my door and called me by my military name – Fullmetal. And it all went downhill from there. I fought the guy because he threatened to kill Alphonse. I couldn't let him do that. But he got the upper-hand, and I died defending Al from his gun. I don't know what happened after that."

The group sat there in silence, digesting the entire truth of Edward's tragic story. Alphonse trembled a little. "Dad?" he asked in a small voice. "Is everything you said true?"

Edward flinched. "Yes, everything, all of it, is true. You're not my legitimate son, Alphonse. You're my little brother, but you restarted your life as a baby. I don't mind. If it's hard to think of me as your older brother, you can still call me 'Dad'," he replied honestly.

Tears crept into the corners of Alphonse's eyes. He rushed to the ghost, intending to hug him, but when his arms went through the ghost's body, sending him crashing to the ground, reality hit him like a ton of bricks. He slowly sat up, tears trickling down his pale cheeks. And he began to sob. Loudly.

Ed panicked. He rushed to the crying pre-teen and tried to comfort him the best he could (despite being a ghost). "Al? Al, it's okay. You just forgot for a moment. Come on, get a hold of yourself. It's okay. I'm still here."

Alphonse sniffled, rubbing at his eyes with his hand. "Brother . . ." he whispered.

Edward and Winry froze. Edward tentatively asked, "You want to call me . . . 'Brother'?"

Alphonse glanced up, nodding fiercely despite the shimmer of tears in his eyes. "Is that okay?" he implored timidly.

A wide grin practically split Edward's face in half. "That's definitely okay, Alphonse. That's wonderful. Say it again. I missed hearing you say it," he trilled in glee, swooping up and down and around the room. Winry and Adrian watched him go, laughing out loud.

Alphonse smiled. And he complied.

"We're together again . . . _Brother."_

* * *

**Wow. I'm done. I'm actually done. Holy shit. Well, that was thanks to someone who read my one-shot fanfic "The Memories We Share" and PMed me, begging for a sequel. So I got off my lazy ass and did some quality writing. I didn't have a lot of homework today, so I had some good time to spare. Anyways, this IS the sequel to TMWS, so if you haven't read that first, you probably should. This fic would make a whole lot more sense if you do.**

**Did everyone like that happy ending? I hope you all liked that happy ending. I did.**

**I originally was gonna make Ed disappear after Al called him "brother", but then I decided that would be too cruel. So Ed stays. When Alphonse finally passes to the next world, Ed will go with him.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review to tell me what you think.**

**MangaFreak15**

**P.S. This sequel was over 5000 words long! Hooray!**


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